Everything about De Re Metallica totally explained
De re metallica (
Latin for
On the Nature of Metals (Minerals)) is a book cataloging the state of the art of
mining, refining, and
smelting metals, published in 1556. The author was
Georg Bauer, whose pen name was the Latinized
Georgius Agricola. The book remained the authoritative text on mining for 250 years after its publication.
Agricola had spent nine years in the Bohemian town of
Joachimsthal, now in the
Czech Republic. (Joachimsthal is famous for its silver mines and the origin of the word "
Thaler.") After Joachimsthal, he spent the rest of his life in
Chemnitz, a prominent mining town in what was then
Saxony. Both Joachimsthal and Chemnitz are in the
Erzgebirge, or
Ore Mountains.
Mining Methods
Agricola describes methods for prospecting for
minerals, their occurrence in the form of
alluvial deposits and the distribution of the
veins or ores. He follows these sections by a description of the methods of deep mining, the building of shafts to extract the ore, and tunnels to follow the veins. The book is illustrated copiously with often very detailed woodcuts of the various operations. The use of water for washing ores is discussed in great detail, such as the use of launders and washing tables, especially needed for heavy ores such as those of
gold and
tin, together with various machines needed to crush the vein ore, many of which were worked by
water mills. He makes frequent reference to classical authors, such as
Pliny the Elder who wrote about mining methods in his
Natural History published in the 77 AD.
One of the primary problems this book addressed was the removal of water from the mines. The limit Agricola documents for raising water from the mines via a
pump is 32 feet. It could then be dumped into another level and pumped from there. The investigation of this problem (and its popularization) would spark a discussion leading to the discovery of air pressure. Also included in this volume are discussions of the
geology of ore bodies,
surveying, mine construction, and
ventilation. He describes the method of breaking hard rocks using
fire-setting, which involved making a fire against a rock-face, and then quenching the rock with water to induce cracking by
thermal shock.
De Re Metallica wasn't limited to mining. It also covered
assaying,
refining,
smelting, and marketing. It covered the creation of
saltpeter, and the use of different
acids in the refining process, as well as
alchemy, timbering, and even some on the diseases of miners and smelters.
Publication History
Although Agricola died in 1555, the publication was delayed until the completion of the extensive and detailed
woodcuts. The book was costly and limited in distribution: in many areas it was chained in churches, so that the priest could translate from Latin for parishioners. One of the rare editions (printed in 1657 in Italy) of this book can be found in the library of the Franciscan monastery of
Kreševo.
In 1912, the first English
translation of
De Re Metallica was privately published in
London by subscription. The translators were
Herbert Hoover, a mining engineer (and later
President of the United States), and his wife,
Lou Henry Hoover, a geologist and Latinist. The translation is notable not only for its clarity of language, but for the extensive footnotes, which detail the classical references to mining and metals, such as the
Natural History of
Pliny the Elder, the history of
mining law in England, France, and the German states; safety in mines, including historical safety; and known
minerals at the time that Agricola wrote
De Re Metallica.
Subsequent translations into other languages, including German, owe much to the Hoover translations, as their footnotes detail their difficulties with Agricola's
baroque vocabulary.
Further Information
Get more info on 'De Re Metallica'.
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